Post navigation

Street Fighter: Juri Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

Can this be? Has it really been four months since I last looked at one of Koto’s Bishoujo statues? Yes, I’m ashamed to say that is indeed the case and I am woefully behind on this little obsession of mine. I feel that Koto is partly to blame because they have really been upping the ante and releasing these things like crazy. I need to start scrambling to get caught up before the ones I missed start rising on the second-hand market, which is already the case with at least one of them. Anywho, back in March I checked out the lovely Julia Chang from their Tekken line, now we’re going back over to the Capcom side of the fence to look at Juri from Street Fighter!

Aww, yeah. We all know what to expect from this packaging by now. You get a window box, which gives you a little tease at what’s inside and a lot of great artwork from Shunya Yamashita. While the comic book statues come in white boxes, Koto has been releasing the video game pieces in these black ones. I’m still partial to the white, just because it’s a cleaner look and makes the artwork pop a little more. But hey, who’s complaining? Not me, because I got a new Bishoujo to open up. Let’s do it!

Juri comes already attached to her stand and ready to go, although she can be removed from it if you want to. Once I got her out of the box, my first reaction was… Holy crap, look at those boobs! Actually, I meant to say that I was impressed with the size of this piece. The last couple Bishoujo’s I opened were from the Tekken series and those are scaled a bit smaller. In contrast, this is one big and beautiful figure!

While both Chun-Li and Cammy are caught in mid action poses, I think Juri looks more like she’s posing for the “camera.” The box suggests she’s readying for a kick, but I don’t get that kind of energy from the composition here. That is not in any way a complaint, mind you, just an observation. Truth be told, I think this is a fantastic pose and I’m particularly fond of when Koto can get their statues to balance like this. Juri stands balanced on the toes of her left foot with her right leg drawn up at the knee, one hand on her hip and the other held aloft as if to say, “behold my bad ass sexiness!” Ooooh yeah!

Juri’s outfit includes her puffy pants, a long belt, which bellows out at her side and a a rather revealing top that just amounts to a breast plate with a bunch of straps running to her back to make up a bitchin’ spider motif. Funny, I don’t remember Juri being quite so well endowed in the game, but she’s positively busting out of her top here. She’s also sporting some sleeves, finger-less gloves and spiked bracelets.

The portrait here is a beautiful piece of work. Juri has a rather sly look as she glances off to the side and licks her lips. She seriously looks like she’s about to relish kicking the shit out of someone. The eyes are absolutely gorgeous and they did a wonderful job recreating her distinctive hairstyle.

The coloring on this piece feels a little muted compared to most Bish statues, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s certainly in character. I think the fact that there’s no glossy aspects to her clothing is a big part of that. Instead of getting that contrast between the soft skin and the sheen of the clothes, everything is soft. The pallet is even a little more limited, with basically just black purple and gray. You do get a little bit of sheen on her belt buckle, her gloves, and the nail polish on her fingers and toes.

As with the previous Street Fighter statues, Juri comes on a clear disc stand with a choice of two inserts. One has the Street Fighter logo and the other a piece of Shunya Yamashita’s character art on which this statue was based. I’ve gone on plenty about how I’m torn over these clear bases. On the one hand, they look nice and don’t detract from the figure, on the other hand, they show fingerprints really easily and the bottoms have a tendency to fall out when you pick them up.

And to the great surprise of absolutely no one, I’m in love with yet another one of Koto’s magnificent Bishoujo statues. Considering how iconic Chun-Li and Cammy are, it’s no small feat to say that Juri can easily hold her own on the shelf next to her fellow game gals and with Sakura and Poison coming up next, I expect great things to continue for this sub-line. Now, I just have to backtrack and pick up the ones I missed, like Jun Kazama and Nina Williams from Tekken, oh and I think Anna Williams is shipping soon. And Batwoman and Jubilee… good grief!